Looking past the OP's flawed analogy to the Suns, there is a good observation buried here: if Splitter isn't a quality rotation player by end of the season, LA's big front line will present a huge problem. After all, without Perkins in the finals last year, Boston got out-sized by LA, to the extent that Kobe's crappy last game didn't matter. I agree that Duncan needs some help in the paint to compete well against LA. SA is not going to jump-shoot their way past them in a 7-game series. So the question is: is Splitter going to be that guy that helps Duncan man the paint, or is he going to "rot on the bench" as the OP put it?